Task Force Member Profiles

William W. Altaffer, Esq.
Tucson, Ariz.

Bill Altaffer is an attorney who is deeply committed to improving the quality of life in his community and on our planet. He lives in Tucson with his wife, Colette.

Altaffer, 50, graduated with honors from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and earned his law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law. At the firm of Strickland & Altaffer, he served as associate general counsel to three Indian nations, assisting these governments in the interpretation of their constitutions and the enactment of environmental protection legislation.

Altaffer and his wife led the precedent-setting effort to enact the Inclusive Home Design Ordinance in Pima County, Arizona. This visitability ordinance requires that new single-family housing meet minimum accessibility requirements, thereby promoting the independence of people with disabilities. It’s currently the most progressive legislation of its type in the country.

Over the years, Altaffer has served on a variety of boards, commissions and committees whose goals are the promotion of world peace and the improvement of the quality of life for persons with disabilities.

Altaffer is a member of the national task force steering committee and is a member and past chairman of the Southern Arizona Task Force on Public Awareness. He was the recipient of MDA's 1995 National Personal Achievement Award. In 2002, Altaffer received the Tucson Human Relations Commission's Rabbi Albert T. Bilgray Make a Difference Award for his lifelong activism for human rights and social change based on the rule of law.

Altaffer has type 3 spinal muscular atrophy, also known as Kugelberg-Welander disease, which first appeared in childhood. The progressive condition involves weakness in the leg, hip, shoulder, arm and respiratory muscles.

Jan Blaustone
Nashville, Tenn.

Jan Blaustone, 52, is a Nashville-based author and speaker who focuses on family life and disability issues.

Her second book, Every Family Is Special: Love Comes First, was published in 1994 by Fairview Press, and her first book, The Joy of Parenthood, in 1993 by Meadowbrook/Simon & Schuster. Her books have been endorsed by the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse and are used as counseling tools in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Blaustone earned a bachelor's degree in English from California State University, Sacramento. She has worked in advertising, as a fire fighter and as assistant to best-selling author H. Jackson Brown Jr. She volunteers with Canine Assistants of Alpharetta, Ga., has also served as a volunteer consultant on special needs adoptions for Family & Children's Service of Middle Tennessee, and has served as a substitute teacher for Metro-Davidson County in Nashville.

She has assisted with MDA summer camp and was profiled on the national broadcast of the 1996 MDA Telethon. She has written for MDA's Quest magazine and various publications nationwide via wire services. She also participates as a member of the national task force steering committee and as a motivational speaker at MDA functions and support groups. In 1994, she was honored by the Nashville mayor's office for her efforts to promote a positive image of people with disabilities. She was the 2001 recipient of MDA's National Personal Achievement Award. She served two terms as president of MDA's Middle Tennesee and Southern Kentucky Chapter.

Blaustone enjoys activities involving children, fishing, boating, painting, gardening and photography. She has contributed four works of art to the MDA Art Collection. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Michael, and their 17-year-old son, Lee.

Blaustone has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, which affects her shoulders, upper arms and legs. She uses a power wheelchair for mobiliy. Her condition was diagnosed in 1987.

Marilyn J. Cooper
Northridge, Calif.

Marilyn Cooper, a retired marriage and family counselor, has numerous professional and community activities to her credit. She counsels people with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease).

Cooper, 63, was born in London and came to the United States at age 4. She graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in history and elementary school teaching. She received her credentials for counseling from the University of Judaism and her master’s degree in counseling from California State University-Northridge in 1991. She and her husband, Richard, have three adult children and four grandchildren.

Her enthusiasm and perseverance helped to earn Cooper MDA’s 1998 State Personal Achievement Award for California. She serves on the Executive Committee of MDA’s Los Angeles Chapter and, together with her husband, on MDA’s ALS Task Force for Southern California. She also shares her experiences in the workplace as a person with a disability.

Cooper is affected by ALS, which was diagnosed in 1975. She uses a power wheelchair and an adapted van, which help her lead a very active life.

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